What do you think about transfer factors?

[Montse de Paz]

There is a big company, 4 Life, which sells transfer factor based products.

https://www.4life.com/corp/about

What do you think about the supplements based on transfer factors? Do you know about them?

Are they beneficial to health? Who may need them? Or are they another story to sell?

Thank you for answering!

[viv]

I was curious so checked out the website. Yikes! these "transfer factor based products" are made from concentrated proteins from cow colostrum and chicken egg yolks! They are not beneficial to health, no one needs them and yes they are another story to sell a product.

The McDougall Plan does not recommend animal products and the only vitamin recommended is B12.

[Montse de Paz]

Thank you, Viv.

They say that they are isolated factors, so anyone who is milk or egg intolerant can consume them without risk, but anyway... They are an artificial product.

There is so much literature on supplements!!

[GeoffreyLevens]

One way or another i worked in supplement industry for about 25 years. Approximately once a month or more, someone comes out with a new product that is a concentrate, or extract from an actual food. Based on small amount of rat research or sometimes one tiny human study, so small and poorly done as to be worthless, they then market it for a lot of $$$. A very few of those I have seen have some positive results with those taking it but NEVER up to the results of just eating the original whole, intact food source and stopping eating all the crap.

[Montse de Paz]

Thank you, Geoffrey. Your experience is very interesting.

In this case, there are many studies about transfer factors (they provide information in the website of the company and in other websites). In Russia, they are even prescribed by the public health.

I have a friend who is in the Multilevel Business, selling 4 Life products, and I am a bit worried about her, because she eats poorly and consumes a lot of these products. She believes they support a healthy life, but she is not well and her blood tests show deficiencies.

From your experience, what do you advise me to help her?

[GeoffreyLevens]

I would advise doing nothing at all. Don't buy the products and don't say anything to her except "No thank you." People involved in MLM businesses are very often like religious fanatic fundamentalists and do not take kindly to anything that might challenge their view of their products.

[Montse de Paz]

Geoffrey, you are so right!
It is true: concerning the products, she is really a kind of religious fanatic, as you say. If I try to convince her to do otherwise, she will not pay attention...
Thank you. I hope one day she will see more clearly her own situation.